ARE YOU THE ONE WHO CAN BOLDLY SAY THAT YOU STAND BEFORE THE LORD?

“Then Elijah said, as the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand...” – 1 Kings 18:15

“And Elisha said, as the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand..." - 2 Kings 3:14

Whenever I read these verses I feel so thrilled to see how Elijah and Elisha introduce themselves with authority. They say boldly that they stand before the Lord. They lived as holy prophets because they made it a habit to stand before the Lord in prayer.

From my childhood I like the game of cricket so much. I never watched it so seriously but I used to watch it whenever I need some entertainment. Recently world t20 tournament took place and I supported West Indies team. I do not belong to West Indies but yet I love their team because when they won the world T20 tournament in the year 2012 their captain Darren Sammy spoke about Jesus Christ during the final prize distribution.

I know Darren Sammy is a Christian but when he spoke openly about Jesus Christ I loved it and so this time also I wanted them to win the cup. When they reached Semi-Final of the tournament I was so happy. When I switched on the television to watch the match it was raining and West Indies were in the verge of defeat. I felt so bad but I expected a miracle to happen and went to sleep.

The next day morning I went through a cricket website so eagerly to find who had won the match. But it was Sri Lankan team who had won the match. As I was going through the talk of Sammy after that match I was so surprised to see the insight he gave for their team defeat. 

Sammy said, “We are a praying team, we know God normally answers our prayers but today, I guess two gentlemen [Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene] who have played for Sri Lanka, given a lot not only to Sri Lanka cricket but cricket on the whole, I guess the Almighty wants them to leave on a high, so I guess they have one more game to try and win a world cup and leave on a high. Probably that’s the reason why God put a hand in this match.”

I had never thought that someone could give a insight like this after they lost the match. Also the way he introduced themselves as a praying team made me believe that God will fulfil his words. 

This made me to eagerly wait for the final match. The final match was between Sri Lanka and India. India started strongly but they could not finish it well and finally Sri Lanka chased the target set by India so comfortably and won the match. What really surprised me was Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene played well in that final match and they left the T20 cricket on a high note as said by Sammy.

Even an Indian batsman and man of the tournament Virat Kohli told after the match that Darren Sammy was right as God was really smiling on the Sri Lankan team. 

How could Sammy accurately give an insight about their defeat and the final match? The reason that I believe is what he said about them. He said that they were a praying team. As an individual he was a praying guy. He has the habit of standing before God as Elijah and Elisha said. 

My dear young friends, if you spend more time on praying in God’s presence, Jesus Christ can make you shine. He can make you to stand as a victor in your worldly life and Spiritual life. Remember prayer is the key to your success. Whatever be your desire or problem. Just go to God in prayer and tell Him everything. Jesus Christ will bless you and make you a blessing. 

“Men and women are needed whose prayers will give to the world the utmost power of God; who will make His promises to blossom with rich and full results. God is waiting to hear us and challenges us to bring Him to do this thing by our praying. He is asking us, to-day, as He did His ancient Israel, to prove Him now herewith." Behind God's Word is God Himself, and we read: "Thus saith the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, his Maker: Ask of me of things to come and concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands, command ye me." As though God places Himself in the hands and at the disposal of His people who pray - as indeed He does. The dominant element of all praying is faith, that is conspicuous, cardinal and emphatic. Without such faith it is impossible to please God, and equally impossible to pray.” – E.M. Bounds, Weapon of Prayer.

Stand before Jesus Christ daily. You will be a blessing to many. God bless you

HOPE IN CHRIST WILL BRING BACK WHAT YOU LOST - AWESOME WORK OF GOD IN THE LIFE OF MS. NADIA BLOOM (TAKEN FROM CBN.COM)

On the morning of April 10, 2010, eleven-year-old Nadia Bloom hopped on her bike, and sped off toward the wooded area at the end of her subdivision to take some pictures of nature.

But she didn’t return. 

“After twenty minutes, thirty minutes, I stepped outside the door waiting for her to circle around and tell her to come in,” says her mother Tanya Bloom. “When she didn’t do that, that’s when I got in the car to go look for her.”

Tanya was especially concerned because the area around the family’s home in Seminole County, Florida, is rife with alligators and other predators. “I knew there’d only be two places she could go,” Tanya says. “There is a little play place and there is a pond. So I drove toward the pond first and I saw her bike in the cul-de-sac, and her bike was parked neatly right by the pond, with her helmet on the handlebars.”

Tanya went looking for her daughter in the dense thicket near the pond. When she couldn’t find her, she called 9-1-1. Within hours, local and state authorities set up a massive search operation. “It’s a surreal moment. You’re feeling like ‘This isn’t happening. I can’t believe this is happening,’ and ‘Where is she?’”

Soon, night began to fall and still no sign of Nadia.

 “Everything that you believe about God is going to be tested. And you have to make a decision. Is He who He says He is? We chose to believe that, no matter what.” 

As word spread throughout the community, the Bloom’s pastor gathered people to pray. “It was a very open, honest night of people just calling on God and just saying, ‘Please God, intervene. This is beyond our control, and we really need you.”

 The search continued for several days, and Nadia’s story gained national attention. Nadia’s father, Jeff Bloom, says his hope started to fade. “As time went on, the other alternatives to her being found start to become more of a reality. And you start trying to come to terms with those other events happening.”

Tanya adds, “There were times where I would have hope and then, you think she could have been taken by somebody. And that’s a whole different avenue of, if someone took her, what could be happening to her.”

All the while, townspeople continued their outpouring of prayers and support.

“Her school had sent home some letters from one class and there was a child that wrote, ‘Hope will bring her home,’ Tanya remembers. “And I just started weeping. But again, that restored the hope, from this little kid.”

Jeff adds, “One of the prayers that I prayed-and it was almost constant--was that, whatever happened, God would be glorified through these events.” 

Four days passed and still, search and rescue teams came up empty handed.  Then, there was a lead. But it didn’t come from a search party or helicopter.  James King, a member of the Blooms’ church, says God told him where to look for Nadia. “It was a still small voice,” James says. “But He led me, in different cases telling me, ‘Yes, go this way,’ or ‘Don’t go that way.’[James King, who was helping in the search, found her in a dry patch in the middle of the swamp and called authorities. He started walking at daylight and found her several hours later, he said.]

That afternoon, James made the call to 9-1-1 with news that the Bloom family and the town of Winter Springs had been waiting four days to hear.

“To go from that depth of emotion to that exhilaration in a span of a few seconds is unbelievable,” Jeff Bloom says. “I ran into the bedroom and I almost broke down the door to tell Tanya and the whole house erupted. It was awesome.”

The people in the Blooms’ neighbourhood threw Nadia a welcome home party. Jeff Bloom says his prayer that God would be glorified was answered. “There were people around the world that sent us letters and called and sent emails praying for Nadia. I had emails from people who did not have faith, and they would say, ‘I don’t believe, but this is as close to a miracle as I’ve ever seen.’”  

Some of the details of the ordeal are already starting to fade for Nadia, but she’ll never forget that there is a God who still does miracles today. “It’s very miraculous, Nadia says. “I remember when I was little, I questioned if God was really there for us, but He does that, I mean really.”

“No matter how scary it is,” her father adds, “you have to keep your trust in Him.”

THE WALL - 21

EARS TO HEAR - AN INSPIRATIONAL ARTICLE TAKEN FROM A FORWARDED EMAIL

"Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it." - Isaiah 30:21. 

A man's 13-year-old grandson had just made the seventh-grade basketball team.

After the first week of practice, the grandfather asked him-
"So how is the team? Do you like playing?"

The boy replied, "We haven't really started playing yet. So far we've just been dribbling the ball, listening to loud music, and the coach yells at us a lot."

The grandfather was a little puzzled, but figured the boy probably left out a few details.

So, he checked back the next week. "Well, how's it going now? Is the coach still yelling?"

"Yup," the young man replied. "Now we're passing and dribbling the ball and running the length of the court. And the coach is still playing loud music, and he's still yelling."

The grandfather was completely baffled. "Does he yell at everyone or just some of the guys?"

The grandson replied, "He yells at each of us."

The next day the grandfather dropped by practice to see for himself the kind of basketball team the coach was creating.

He introduced himself to the coach and asked if he would explain today's training to him.

The coach was happy to explain, "To be able to coach the guys during a game, I need them to be able to recognize my voice and to focus regardless of everything else going on around them."

We each need to train our ears to hear God's voice above everything else going on around us.

In the middle of noisy trials and happy celebrations, can you hear His voice above the others?

Ask the Lord to help you to become so familiar with His voice, that you can recognize it above every circumstance of life.

AS A MOTHER COMFORTS HER CHILD, JESUS CHRIST WILL COMFORT YOU

“As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you...” – Isaiah 66:13

There was a young couple who had a five year old child. They were living very happily and was doing God’s ministry so diligently. Everything was going well in their life but one day the wife got some physical problem. Her husband took her to a big hospital for check up. 

Doctors diagnosed that she has severe problem in her heart. Also they found that if an operation is performed in her body there is 90 percent chance that she will die. So they told her husband to take her home. 

As a family they could not accept the reality at all. They cried all the days knowing not what to do. One day her husband decided to go for the operation putting all his hope in Jesus. They called one servant of God to pray before they leave for operation.

The servant of God went to their home and prayed for them. As he started praying both husband and wife started crying very badly and their little child was playing without knowing what was happening. As the servant of God continued praying the husband could not bear the sorrow and so he immediately stood up and went to another room and cried loudly.

The servant of God doesn’t know what to do. But he prayed very diligently. As he was praying, he saw Jesus Christ sitting near the woman who was crying badly. Jesus Christ smiled at her and said, “It’s alright”. Nothing else He spoke and this servant of God could not understand anything.

Once he finished his prayer he told them that God will surely heal her. With little faith they had, the young couple went for the operation. The husband was anxiously waiting outside the operation theatre. As soon as the operation started a nurse came running out to him. By the way the nurse was running he thought that his wife died and so he sat on the chair, covered his face and wept. The nurse came to him and said, “It’s alright. Doctors found that there was no problem in your wife’s body and she is completely fine and you can take her home. She will live for years.”

Jesus Christ healed her completely and even today they are living for the glory of God.

You might also be going through some tough moments in your life. You might have a problem in your studies, job, family or you might have a problem in your physical body. Because of those problems you might shed tears with no one to comfort you at all.

You might feel like an orphan now because no one around you can understand your pain. You are running to somebody to share your sorrow but yet you can’t find any peace in your heart. You are feeling as if you are standing before a big wall without seeing any way to proceed further.

You are struggling. You don’t know what to do. You feel like death is the only solution to your entire problem. You are not thinking about suicide but you feel like if you die soon, then you will be in peace. 

Today Jesus Christ says to you, “My dearest child, I am with you. I will comfort you as a mother comforts you. Though your loved ones forget you, I will never forget you. You are my own child. I will be your comforter. I will heal you, protect you and will carry you. Your days of sorrow will come to an end. I will show you the way in which you should go. I will give you my peace and joy. You will be a victorious person. I will never leave you nor forsake you. You will shine for My glory.”

Jesus Christ will come into your life and He will bless you. You will not be put to shame. God bless you richly.

GOD'S PROMISE FOR THE MONTH OF APRIL'14